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First, a few words from George Bailey on our current economic crisis:
Forget Citizen Kane. Frank Capra's Christmas chestnut is arguably the second-most influential movie of all time, after The Wizard of Oz. Why? Because its world has become our world. When politicians talk about small town America, they're talking about Bedford Falls. The homey hamlet encapsulates our visions of the idealized American Dream. Every citizen has their job, and these jobs define their personality. Bert the Cop and Ernie the Taxi Driver begat Joe the Plumber.
And on the flipside, Pottersville perfectly symbolizes the greed and corruption of unfettered capitalism. As David Thomson has written, inside this movie there's a noir oozing to take over. James Stewart's claustrophobic George Bailey is the American Everyman: denying himself escape (shades of The Truman Show) in favor of family and community. It's a balancing act both enabled and camouflaged by a letter-perfect screenplay, a cast made in heaven and a genuinely touching finale. If you haven't shed a tear by the time George says, "Attaboy Clarence!" it's time to get a chest x-ray à la The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
It's A Wonderful Life runs December 19-24 as part of The 25th Annual Music Box Christmas Show. If you watch it at home, please avoid the colorized version.
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The SNL "Lost Ending" always kills me.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4267/saturday-night-live-its-a-wonderful-life-lost-ending
I was always a Mr. Potter fan.
George: "Merry Christmas, Mr. Potter!"
Mr. Potter: "Happy New Year to you to.... IN JAIL!"
Ah, I love that line...
Forget Citizen Kane. Frank Capra's Christmas chestnut is arguably the second-most influential movie of all time, after The Wizard of Oz. Why? Because its world has become our world.
Rob, how are you defining influential here? This doesn't make much sense to me.
Funny thing, this movie would be boulderized if it were made today.
It's overtly religious, deals with suicide and alcohol abuse. Not to mention, George Bailey is something of an asshole for most of the film.
If they made it today it would have Vince Vaughn, Dane Cook as Clarence and some 22 year old playing Donna Reed as a mother of 3
i saw this movie for the first time just last year. i was goaded by my sister who, as Albany pointed out, is kind of a dick for the most part. far more enjoyable than i thought it would be, that's for sure.
My Christmas hero is Detective John McClaine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KShj0gPAH0g&feature=related
NOW I HAVE A MACHINE GUN
HO HO HO
It's overtly religious, deals with suicide and alcohol abuse. Not to mention, George Bailey is something of an asshole for most of the film.
Not to mention that Mr. Potter's not portrayed as the awesome godly conservative superman he should be. Socialist, bleeding heart liberal, propaganda!
@Albanypakour...any fan of Die Hard, is a fan of mine!
Officer John McClane.
He's a cop.
He's a good cop!
He's a good Irish cop!!
Well, I can see that there is no chance of the commenters here getting all sloppy and sentimental over this movie :)
And I've got to say...never said it out loud before because you can't say these things about such a treasured movie...but you all are right...George really IS a dick for a lot of the movie! I always wondered why Mary put up with that behavior, especially in the beginning when he was at her house when she got back from school. He had no reason at all to be treating her like that and she just took it, like a doormat.
For all of its sanctimoniousness, I do enjoy it though.
PumaC: what I was trying to get at is that a movie becomes truly influential when it not only influences other other movies but also affects our day-to-day lives and the culture at large. I think IAWL has done that.
About Mr. Potter being a "conservative," in the movie Mr. Potter does not behave as a conservative. He is a selfish, sadistic lout who let's his anger influence his business decisions.
Potter witholds loans out of contempt rather than on the basis of whether the borrowers can be paid back.
A true conservative would MAKE those loans and then make money when they are repaid.
Mr. Potter is also a thief and a saboteur of his competition. Rather than compete with George fairly, Potter pockets the money that was lost by Uncle Billy. That's not conservatism. That is crookery.